Examinando por Autor "Bitetto, Marcello"

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Aerial strategies advance volcanic gas measurements at inaccessible, strongly degassing volcanoes
(American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2020-10-30) Liu, Emma; Bitetto, Marcello; Clarke, Robert; Edmonds, Marie; Hayer, Catherine; Nowicki, Scott; Schipper, C Ian; Aiuppa, Alessandro; Alan, Alfredo; Arellano, Santiago; Bobrowski, Nicole; Carn, Simon A.; Corrales, Ernesto; Moor, J. Maarten de; Díaz, Jorge Andrés; Fischer, Tobias P.; Freer, Jim E.; Fricke, G. Matthew; Galle, Bo O.; Itikarai, Ima; Jones, J.; Mason, Emily; Mulina, Kila; Rahilly, Kristen E; Rüdiger, Julian; Watson, I. Matthew; Gerdes, Gustav; Giudice, Gaetano; Gutmann, Alexandra; McCormick, Brendan; Richardson, Thomas
Volcanic emissions are a critical pathway in Earth’s carbon cycle. Here, we show that aerial measurements of volcanic gases using unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) transform our ability to measure and monitor plumes remotely and to constrain global volatile fluxes from volcanoes. Combining multi-scale measurements from ground-based remote sensing, long-range aerial sampling, and satellites, we present comprehensive gas fluxes—3760 ± [600, 310] tons day−1 CO2 and 5150 ± [730, 340] tons day−1 SO2—for a strong yet previously uncharac terized volcanic emitter: Manam, Papua New Guinea. The CO2/ST ratio of 1.07 ± 0.06 suggests a modest slab sediment contribution to the sub-arc mantle. We find that aerial strategies reduce uncertainties associated with ground-based remote sensing of SO2 flux and enable near–real-time measurements of plume chemistry and carbon isotope composition. Our data emphasize the need to account for time averaging of temporal variability in volcanic gas emissions in global flux estimates
Tracking Formation of a Lava Lake From Ground and Space: Masaya Volcano (Nicaragua), 2014–2017
(American Geophysical Union, 2018-02-22) AIUPPA, Alessandro; de Moor, J. Marteen; Arellano, Santiago; Coppola, Diego; Francofonte, Vincenzo; Galle, Bo; Giudice, Gaetano; Liuzzo, Marco; Mendoza, Elvis; Saballos, Armando; Tamburello, Giancarlo; Battaglia, Angelo; Bitetto, Marcello; Gurrieri, Sergio; Laiolo, Marco; Mastrolia, Andrea; Moretti, Robertto
A vigorously degassing lava lake appeared inside the Santiago pit crater of Masaya volcano (Nicaragua) in December 2015, after years of degassing with no (or minor) incandescence. Here we present an unprecedented-long (3 years) and continuous volcanic gas record that instrumentally characterizes the (re)activation of the lava lake. Our results show that, before appearance of the lake, the volcanic gas plume composition became unusually CO2 rich, as testified by high CO2/SO2 ratios (mean: 12.2 6 6.3) and low H2O/CO2 ratios (mean: 2.3 6 1.3). The volcanic CO2 flux also peaked in November 2015 (mean: 81.3 6 40.6 kg/s; maximum: 247 kg/s). Using results of magma degassing models and budgets, we interpret this elevated CO2 degassing as sourced by degassing of a volatile-rich fast-overturning (3.6–5.2 m3 s21) magma, supplying CO2-rich gas bubbles from minimum equivalent depths of 0.36–1.4 km. We propose this elevated gas bubble supply destabilized the shallow (<1 km) Masaya magma reservoir, leading to upward migration of vesicular (buoyant) resident magma, and ultimately to (re)formation of the lava lake. At onset of lava lake activity on 11 December 2015 (constrained by satellite-based MODIS thermal observations), the gas emissions transitioned to more SO2-rich composition, and the SO2 flux increased by a factor 40% (11.4 6 5.2 kg/s) relative to background degassing (8.0 kg/s), confirming faster than normal (4.4 versus 3 m3 s21) shallow magma convection. Based on thermal energy records, we estimate that only 0.8 of the 4.4 m3 s21 of magma actually reached the surface to manifest into a convecting lava lake, suggesting inefficient transport of magma in the near-surface plumbing system.